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Question for you Nat fans. Do you think the Nats would be interested in trading Tyler Moore for Rick Porcello in the off season? Rick is a good groundball pitcher with decent advanced pitching metrics, but poor standard stats. Tigers awful INF defense is a big reason why.

Just wondered what you guys would think. Both are right about the same age, but Rick has 3 more years of arbitration before FA and Tyler has 6 years before FA so Rick would cost more salary wise.

Interesting thought...

The Nationals will look for another pitcher during the offseason but I think they'd prefer to hold onto Moore in case LaRoche leaves. And there is always the possibility of a deal involving Michael Morse during his final year of contract. Tyler would be needed for the club if any of those two things happened.

I believe Rizzo would listen to the offer, but a lot would have to happen for it to go down. Particularly because at worst Moore is a good platoon player off the bench in case of injury in 2013 and they can always spend money on a pitcher without losing a player.

Will Rhymes signs minor league deal

Nothing fancy. Just a name we'll see in spring training to provide infield depth.

The Nationals signed infielder Will Rhymes, formerly of the Detroit Tigers and recently of the Tampa Bay Rays, to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

Rhymes, 29, a Texas native who played in college at William & Mary, hit .228/.299/.285 in 137 plate appearances over 47 games for the Rays this season, and .256/.326/.390 in 46 games for the Rays’ Class AAA affiliate in Durham. The Rays designed him for assignment in September and he elected for free agency. Rhymes was drafted in the 27th round in 2005 by the Tigers, spent five years in their minor league system before debuting in 2010. He played 83 games over two seasons for them; his best in 2010 when he hit .304/.350/.414 in 54 games for Detroit.

Nationals sign Dominican 3B prospect Neivy Pilier

Neivy Pilier, a 16-year-old third baseman from the Dominican Republic, has signed with the Nationals for $225,000.

At 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Pilier has a quick bat with lift and occasional power in his righthanded swing, though he's at his best when he stays with a line-drive approach and uses the middle of the field. He has a strong arm that fits well at third base, though with his youth and size he's still trying to improve his footwork. Pilier didn't turn 16 until Aug. 1, so he was one of the younger players among those who became eligible to sign this year.

Pilier is from Santo Domingo, played in the Dominican Prospect League and trained with Christian Batista, who is known in the Dominican Republic as "Niche."

Scouting Javier Vazquez

The Nationals have made bulking up their starting pitching depth a priority this winter, and last week their search led them to send a top scout to evaluate veteran right-hander Javier Vazquez in a Puerto Rican winter league game, according to a team official.

The Nationals were impressed with how Vazquez pitched and would be interested in signing him to a minor league contract with an “out” – an option for the pitcher to ask for his release by a certain date if not added to the major league active roster.

It is not clear Vazquez would accept such a minor league deal. He may hold out for a major league contract, which would presumably take the Nationals out of the running for his services.

The Nationals signed left-handed reliever Will Ohman to a minor league deal, Bill Ladson of MLB.com reports (on Twitter). The team confirmed its deal with the Beverly Hills Sports Council client (on Twitter).

Ohman pitched for the White Sox in 2012, the second year of a two-year, $4MM contract. The 35-year-old posted a 6.41 ERA with 4.4 K/0 and 1.7 BB/9 in 26 2/3 innings of relief with Chicago before getting released in July. The Reds signed him later that month, but never called him up from Triple-A Louisville.

Just got to see Karns pitch the other day. He looked pretty impressive. He went 8 innings of 3 run ball. But one run was a HR, that seemed like it should have been ruled a double off the wall. In any case, his velocity sat in the low-mid 90s, topping out at 95. And he maintained that velocity the entire game. His curve also looked pretty impressive and he seemed to have reasonable control over it. His biggest issue seemed to be fastball command. I believe he had 2 wild pitches and maybe 3 or so other fastballs that ended up in the dirt, but were blocked by the catcher. With a bit of work on his command he could be a nice pitcher for you guys.